🌙 Episode 30 — “When the Air Stops Moving”

Morning arrived heavy. The city was awake, but it wasn’t alive.
Ren noticed it while walking to school — no birds. No car horns. Even the breeze had died, like the entire street was holding its breath.

He found Nara waiting outside the gates, leaning against the wall with one foot pressed flat to it like she’d been hanging there sideways and only now decided to act normal.
She grinned when she saw him, but it wasn’t her usual chaotic smile. It was too… calculated.

“You’re walking slower,” she said, tilting her head so her hair swung in one sharp motion.
Ren shrugged. “Didn’t sleep.”
“You saw him, didn’t you?”
Ren stopped in his tracks. “…Who?”

Nara stepped closer until her face was inches from his, eyes glinting like she was trying to see the memory itself inside his pupils.
Then, abruptly, she laughed. Not the loud, goofy kind — but a slow, low chuckle that seemed to sink under his skin.

“I hope he likes you,” she said. “It’s worse if he doesn’t.”

In class, things weren’t better.
Kaito was watching the window, not the teacher. He only looked away when Miyu passed him a note: You’re doing it again.
He crumpled it instantly, never breaking eye contact with whatever was outside.

During break, Miyu dragged Ren aside, away from both of them. She wasn’t usually the type to panic, but her hands were trembling as she spoke.
“Kaito told me not to go home alone tonight,” she said.
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t say. Just said… ‘don’t let him learn your walk.’”

The three of them stayed together after school. Nara insisted on coming, skipping beside them like a little kid despite the shadows under her eyes.

Halfway through the walk, they passed a narrow alley between two old apartment blocks.
Ren felt it immediately — that pull, like something in there had been waiting for him specifically.
Nara stopped dead. Her smile dropped.

“He’s close,” she whispered. “The air’s not moving.”

Kaito’s gaze flicked toward the alley. He stepped forward, but Nara grabbed his wrist.
“No. He doesn’t blink. Don’t go near him.”

That was when it happened — a glass bottle rolled out of the alley, spinning to a stop right in front of Ren’s shoe.
No one followed it. No sound. Just the bottle, glinting faintly in the dim light.

Ren crouched instinctively, but froze when he saw his own reflection in the glass.
It wasn’t him.
The face staring back was smiling.

The moment snapped when a low whistle came from the alley.
Not a friendly call, not a warning — just a single, rising note that sent a jolt down Ren’s spine.

Nara reacted instantly. She shoved Ren back hard enough that he stumbled into Miyu. Then she stepped forward, shoulders tense, eyes fixed on the darkness.
“You’re too early,” she called. Her voice was sharp now, almost a growl. “Wait your turn.”

For a few long seconds, nothing. Then, very slowly, a figure emerged just enough for the outline of a coat to be visible. The face was still hidden.
The man didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

Kaito grabbed Ren’s arm. “We need to go. Now.”
And for once, Nara didn’t argue.

That night, Ren dreamed of the whistle.
Except this time, it came from behind his door.

When he woke, the sound hadn’t stopped.